The present invention relates to reinforced shelves for metal shelving units; in particular, the present shelves support electronic labels and/or other peripherals on their front (facing the public) side; the labels are connected to electric wiring coming from the rear side of the shelf itself. The present invention tackles the manufacturing process for manufacturing said reinforced shelves, too.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,485 filed on Apr. 12, 1993, having the title “Electronic price display system with vertical rail”, a metal shelving unit for displaying goods for sale is described. Such shelving unit is provided, in correspondence of its uprights, with a vertical rail, to which, in correspondence of each displaying shelf, plugs can be connected, with relative flexible wiring, transversally extending under each shelf, while the other end of rail is connected to another fixed linear rail on the front side of the same shelf, on which electronic labels are fixed. Said flexible electric wiring is fixed to the bottom part of each shelf, or to the internal side of the bracket supporting the shelf itself, through either cable ties, or U-bolts, or adhesive raceways, or a raceway that can be hooked to the near bracket, which are unaesthetic, not reliable, and which do not sufficiently protect the wiring from the interference with the goods displayed on the shelves or other objects, in that the wiring passes always under the reinforcements of the display shelf.
As the electrically supplied appliances are normally fixed to shelf, while the wiring is fixed to brackets, all the above-mentioned solutions make the mounting and demounting of a shelf difficult; as a matter of fact, in order to remove a shelf, firstly wiring must be disconnected, and afterwards the shelf must be disengaged from its brackets.